Goodbye
by BryannaB709
Summary: Hermione has to say goodbye. Twist ending. Rated T for angst.


A/N: Featuring Depressed/Hermione and ?/Everyone Else.

 **Goodbye**

She wore a bright smile as she looked around at the various families sharing precious last moments with their children before they were sent to Hogwarts for the year.

Platform 9 3/4 was packed with dozens of wizarding families waiting for the train to leave. It was almost eleven o'clock, and the older children were loading their younger siblings' luggage onto the train while the younger ones were being consoled by their parents.

Hermione's brown eyes searched through the crowd on the platform until she saw Rose and Hugo playing with the other children.

She saw Rose talking with Scorpio, a light blush blooming across her delicate features.

Hermione looked up at Scorpio's father Draco standing with his wife, and offered him a small smile. He returned it with a nod of his head, then called Scorpio to him for one last goodbye.

She felt a strong arm wrap around her waist, and let out a small laugh as she realized it was Ron's.

Rose ran up to her and grabbed her around the neck for one last hug.

Hermione hugged her back, whispering, "I love you darling," into her hair before letting her go.

Rose and Hugo both ran onto the train clutching their suitcases, jumping onboard and turning around to wave goodbye.

Hermione waved along with Ron, Draco, Ginny, and Harry, yelling, "I'll see you on Christmas break!"

Rose and Hugo both yelled together, "We love you!"

Hermione held back the urge to cry as the train lurched forward, then started off slowly towards the end of the tunnel.

All of the children in the moving train stuck their arms out of the windows to wave goodbye to their parents, their yells growing louder as the train sped up, gradually leaving the platform behind.

Hermione felt a cold tear run down her face, but she kept waving until her children were finally out of sight.

The crowd, consisted of entirely parents and smaller children now, lingered to see the last car of the train disappear into the light, then slowly walked away.

Hermione, however, stayed behind, tears running down her face and hands clutching her purse in a death grip.

Ron placed his hand on her shoulder, and said gently, "Dear, we must hurry if we're going to catch the bus."

He started with her for a little bit, then walked off of the now empty platform.

Hermione just stood there, staring at the wall on the other side of the tracks. The tears were now running freely down her face, leaving behind cold glistening trails on her red face.

She brought her left hand up to wipe her tears, but the glinting golden ring on her finger caused her to crumble to her knees in wracking sobs.

She swiped away at the cursed tears, but they kept coming.

Her make-up streaked down her face in dark glistening lines, and the sleeve of her coat was getting stained from the excessive amount of the black liner and blush.

She decided it was time to stop lying to herself, so she pulled out her wand and waved it over her head.

As the wand's tip gently pulsed with a dull white light, the platform around her began to dissolve into a much darker scene.

The clean tiles of the station's floor peeled away to reveal cracked stone.

The gentle light filtering through the clean windows dulled and dirtied until the area around her was cloaked in blue shadows.

Her clothes tore and faded until she was covered in a ratty hoodie and tattered jeans. Her hair collasped from the clean bun it had previously been in, and thinned and mussed until it hung limply from her head.

Her skin turned from smooth and soft to rough and parched, and the scene around her completely it's transformation from King Cross Station to the decrepit ruins of Hogwarts.

Hermione looked around at the result of the war, and felt more cruel tears roll their wet way down her face. This was simply the reality she had to deal with.

A reality where Voldemort was victorious and the world laid in ruins; a reality where everyone she held dear was dead; a reality where survivors lived in hiding, staying alive only on the beautiful memories of life before the reign of the Dark Lord and his Death Eaters.

She picked herself up from the ground, and reminded herself that they were dead and there was nothing she could do about it.

A/N: Sorry. ,(


End file.
